UPDATE 8/6/2014:

After a review by our panel of esteemed artists and designers, a poll of the Avaaz community, and careful consideration of which designs would most effectively spur people to hit the streets on Sunday, September 21, the People's Climate March design contest is happy to announce TWO winning designs!

These two designs will form the basis of a creative NYC subway ad campaign that will highlight both the depth of the climate crisis facing us, and the hope that organized people power can push our governments to take bold action. The winners are:

Ellie and Akira Ohiso with "The Next One won't be Biblical"

Here's what Ellie and Akira say about their design: "This design plays against popular catastrophe film stereotypes in order to bring fantasy into possible reality. The commercialized design is meant to target a larger audience that likely wouldn't be interested in traditional eco-messaging."

The second winner is James Jean with "Winds of Change"

Here's what James says about his design: "My poster focuses on a young girl holding a pinwheel, which alludes to wind turbines, while the sun behind her alludes to solar energy. Though her expression is one of hopefulness, an ominous wind is throwing her hair against her face, and the sun grows in intensity behind her. . . she knows that this is critical moment in her lifetime, and her eyes beam with optimism and multi-colored energy. She looks up from the precipice, wearing on her face the symbol of the march: a green heart. My hope is that viewers will connect with the character and use face paint or appropriate the symbols within the poster when they attend the march. And as the trains of the subway generate wind in the tunnels, I imagine the wind blowing through the stations and spinning the pinwheels 'round, inviting people to take part in the march."

These two posters will be featured in a month-long NYC subway ad campaign, starting August 25th and running until the weekend of the march, September 21, and will inform a complimentary suite of ads designed to dramatize the delicate balance of crisis and hope of the moment we're living in, and the incredible urgency of taking to the streets to push our leaders to be as bold as we need them to be at this tipping point moment for the planet.

We wanted to thank the more than 400 artists and designers who submitted their work to the contest! There was an incredibly rich and impressive range of work on display, and it was inspiring to see so much creativity marshaled toward raising awareness about the climate crisis. Here are a collection of some of the most outstanding finalists.

Celebrity judges, $10,000 cash reward, and your design all over the NYC subway for a month

Enter the People's Climate March design contest!

This is an invitation to change everything. In September, world leaders are coming to New York City for a UN summit on the climate crisis. With our future on the line and the whole world watching, we’ll take to the streets to demand the future we know is within our reach: a world with an economy that works for people and the planet; a world safe from the ravages of climate change; a world with good jobs, clean air and water, and healthy communities.

We need one design to plaster the NYC subway for the month leading up to this march. Submit a killer idea for how to define this moment, get hundreds of thousands of people into the streets of New York City and to call on world leaders to take action to protect us all from catastrophic climate change. Artists, creative masterminds, InDesign wizards and passionate illustrators: this is your chance to put your work in front of famous artists, and motivate millions to take action on climate!

The winning design will be part of a massive buzz building campaign to get the word out about the People's Climate March on September 21.

Entries will be evaluated by a panel of judges including art stars Shepard Fairey, Barbara Kruger and Swoon, as well as luminaries from the worlds of design, advertising and activism. Finalists will also have their art seen by millions, in a global poll of Avaaz members around the world.

Submit your design by Friday July 25th to be considered for the Grand Prize - your design all over the NYC subway for a month, $10k and a round-trip ticket to NYC for September 21st, 2014 to join the march!

Avaaz.org is a global campaign network over 37-million strong, working to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages). Learn about Avaaz's latest campaigns and victories here.